Museum of Modern Art in Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland | Museum

Welcome to the Museum of Modern Art, Lugano, Switzerland. Villa Malpensata, today the seat of the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Lugano, was built during the first half of the 18th century. The villa is an example of the typical Nineteenth century lake-side architecture so popular at the time. Very spacious and with a good exposure, it faces the Lugano lake with a breathtaking view. Like other nearby and contemporary villas, it is surrounded by gardens that descend gently towards the lakeshore and it has very large and bright rooms.

Originally, it belonged to the Luganese Foppa family. After several refurbishments and enlargements, in 1845, it became the property of the Caccia family: Antonio, the son, writer and art collector, inherits the Villa and at his death, in 1893, he bequeaths it (together with all the paintings, sculptures and art objects it contains) to the City of Lugano, with the strong wish that it be transformed into a Museum. For a very long time the destiny of the Villa remains uncertain, until 1967 when it is decided that the Villa be restored and transformed into a real exhibition hall.

From 1973, date of its re-opening, to 1990, Villa Malpensata has hosted about 100 exhibits, all of which extremely diverse both from the point of view of the topics dealt with and of their organization. 1992 represents a particularly important year in the sphere of exhibition activities in Lugano: after two further years of restoration, Villa Malpensata is re-opened in concomitance with the exhibit devoted to Thomas Hart Benton and it is during this occasion that the villa adopts the present day denomination: Museum of Modern Art of the City of Lugano; this choice unequivocally establishes a new chapter in how the building is to be used, transforming it into the privileged seat of temporary exhibits with a specific historical-artistic trend. The choice of the Museum and of its new Director Rudy Chiappini is, from now on, addressed to the promotion of 20th century art, with special attention devoted to expressionism, not to be understood in the strictly literal sense of the word but, rather, extended to all those artists, whose strong personality made man, his condition, his unease and anxiety the actual cornerstone of their creative research. The following year, the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Lugano inaugurates its new course in the exhibition domain with the retrospective dedicated to Francis Bacon.